please, it doesn't take hours to get a tuner set up on MCE.
You "may" need to install a driver for your TV, but, I haven't had to yet.
The only valid comment is that the mini is quieter. Of course, you can also get a MCE machine that's quiet as well.
Of course, what they haven't mentioned is that the amount of disk space on the mini isn't anywhere near enough to be a useful PRV.
While they seem content with just popping on USB and firewire devices, they seem to ignore the kind of rats nest and clutter that would create. My MCE is contained in a single shuttle box. That includes two TV tuners and 400GB of disk space of which 100 is dedicated to Music and Video files I already have.
That would be two USB Tuners, and at least one USB/Firewire external hard drive and all the external powercords and cables associated with them, just for the PVR capability I have in a single box that is 7.87" x 7.28" x 12.2" and quiet enough for the living room.
In my case, I don't even have the media center in the living room. It's in the kitchen and used as a normal PC and in the living room my X-Box 360 acts as a media Center Extender giving me full access to all my videos, music, recorded TV and live TV without the clutter of having the PC there.
Sorry, the mini might be a fun media center project for some, but it's nowhere near as good as a media center PC.
Don't forget most IDE drives are now set to cable select by default meaning no jumper changes. And newer SATA CD/DVD drives don't require any jumpers at all.
I agree, the MCE remote could just use the slick 10' interface to access everything allowing 6 to 8 buttons to be used, but, having a button for "my music," "Live TV," "guide," etc... Is much easier than navigating anything to get there.
There is also the virtue of being able to control your TV as well. Having a Media Center remote that controls both your media content and TV is much easier to deal with than having two remotes.
I did for better Media Center Extender capabilities including:
-Not needing to load a CD to run Extender
-Not having to switch Discs when done watching a DVD
-Being able to turn the unit on and off with the remote.
I could have gotten a stand alone Extender with no DVD playback for $300, but $400 for an Extender that has DVD built in and can play "Next gen" games as well as the majority of X-Box games that I already owned made it an easy choice.
Isn't that the same deal with HDTV's watching Blu-Ray and HD-DVD movies in HD? If you don't have HDMI You won't be able to view the media in Hi-def unless the content provider allows it?
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please, it doesn't take hours to get a tuner set up on MCE. You "may" need to install a driver for your TV, but, I haven't had to yet. The only valid comment is that the mini is quieter. Of course, you can also get a MCE machine that's quiet as well. Of course, what they haven't mentioned is that the amount of disk space on the mini isn't anywhere near enough to be a useful PRV. While they seem content with just popping on USB and firewire devices, they seem to ignore the kind of rats nest and clutter that would create. My MCE is contained in a single shuttle box. That includes two TV tuners and 400GB of disk space of which 100 is dedicated to Music and Video files I already have. That would be two USB Tuners, and at least one USB/Firewire external hard drive and all the external powercords and cables associated with them, just for the PVR capability I have in a single box that is 7.87" x 7.28" x 12.2" and quiet enough for the living room. In my case, I don't even have the media center in the living room. It's in the kitchen and used as a normal PC and in the living room my X-Box 360 acts as a media Center Extender giving me full access to all my videos, music, recorded TV and live TV without the clutter of having the PC there. Sorry, the mini might be a fun media center project for some, but it's nowhere near as good as a media center PC.
Don't forget most IDE drives are now set to cable select by default meaning no jumper changes. And newer SATA CD/DVD drives don't require any jumpers at all.
I agree, the MCE remote could just use the slick 10' interface to access everything allowing 6 to 8 buttons to be used, but, having a button for "my music," "Live TV," "guide," etc... Is much easier than navigating anything to get there. There is also the virtue of being able to control your TV as well. Having a Media Center remote that controls both your media content and TV is much easier to deal with than having two remotes.
I did for better Media Center Extender capabilities including: -Not needing to load a CD to run Extender -Not having to switch Discs when done watching a DVD -Being able to turn the unit on and off with the remote. I could have gotten a stand alone Extender with no DVD playback for $300, but $400 for an Extender that has DVD built in and can play "Next gen" games as well as the majority of X-Box games that I already owned made it an easy choice.
Isn't that the same deal with HDTV's watching Blu-Ray and HD-DVD movies in HD? If you don't have HDMI You won't be able to view the media in Hi-def unless the content provider allows it?